Broken
by Debraaaa12
Summary: ANGST. Hawkmoth is defeated, his identity revealed. Chat runs. Adrien vanishes. Will Ladybug find him?


With Hawkmoth defeated and years of teamwork behind them, they had finally won. During the battle, it had been revealed that her Chat was none other than Adrien. The thought still made her dizzy. Her Adrien had been beside her all along, fighting by her side and sacrificing himself for her every chance he had. Seeing him so broken, so full of rage at discovering that Hawkmoth was his own father, it had scared her. She had seen him angry, on both sides of the mask, sure, but it was nothing compare to the rage rolling off him when the purple glow had died, and he realised that it was his own father was behind all this madness. If she hadn't held him back, who knows what kind of damage he would have done.

And then he ran. After they had spoken to the police, after Hawkmoth had been taken away and statements had been made, he had hardly even glanced in her direction before he had turned tail and fled.

For hours that night she had searched for him, even gone to the Agreste manor which stood colder and emptier than ever before, but she was unable to find the black cat she so desperately searched for. So she tried the next night. And the next.

That had been almost a month ago.

Now, she stumbled through each day in a haze. Apparently, he had turned up at the police station about a week after, in the dead of night, to give a statement against his father and to sign the paperwork that put the Agreste company into his name. By the time this had reached the publics knowledge, he had already disappeared again.

Marinette could not accept that he had just up and left her. She was the only one that knew who he really was, and so everyone believed that Adrien had moved away to avoid all the press, and that at the same time, Chat Noir had given up his miraculous, but she knew him better than that. He would never give up being a hero. He would never give up on her. Would he?

She pulled her knees in closer to her chest, shivering in the cold autumn air. From her spot, high on the Eiffel tower, she could see the whole of Paris. This was their favourite spot to sit when patrols were quiet, and a small bubble of hope still believed that she would find him waiting here, Cheshire grin plastered on his face and freshly practised puns rolling off his tongue.

She sighed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. She stood, pulling her yoyo from her waist. Just as she was about to swing away, she noticed the shadow behind her shift. Quick as lightening, she swung her yoyo and wrapped to tight around the shadow. It didn't put up a fight, and as she yanked it into the light, she gasped.

He looked awful. His hair was flat and dull against his head. His frame shrunken and weak, like he hadn't had a decent meal for a while. He hung his head in shame as she loosened her string, holding his elbows as if he was holding himself together.

"Oh Chaton…", she took a step towards him, and he flinched away from her.

"Claws In."

And with a blinding flash of green, he changed into Adrien, looking so lost, so broken that Marinette could feel her heart breaking. He reached for his ring and pulled it off his finger, dropping it on the ground in front of her.

"What are you-"

"Don't", he mumbled, his voice small. "Please don't make this harder Ladybug". He turned towards the ledge and started to walk towards it with such intent that it spurred Marinette into action. She scooped his ring up from where it had landed and grabbed his wrist, pulling him away from the edge. He pulled back, but she was stronger. And it was only then that he looked at her.

His eyes. Oh, god, his eyes. His normally bright orbs were no longer their piercing green, but dull and bruised and red around the edges. Before he could pull away again she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.

"Ladybug…I-I can't" He whispered, his voice cracking.

"This was not your fault Kitty"

And with that, he fell apart, grasping her like his life depended on it and sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder. Somehow they ended up dropping to the ground, and that's where they stayed for what felt like hours.

Finally, his sobs died down to weak sniffs, and his arms began to drop.

"It's okay Chat, we're a team, we'll-"

"Don't call me that anymore" Adrien sniffed, pulling back and staring at the ground. "I'm not a hero, I can't be. I can't be Chat Noir anymore." He made to leave again, but Marinette felt anger bubbling inside her at his words.

"Now you listen here Adrien!" She stood, forcing herself to her feet. "You are Chat Noir, whether you like it or not. I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry it was him, but Kitty, you can't let this defeat you. You can't give up your miraculous! Paris needs you, and most importantly, I need you."

"No you don't" he snapped, shooting to his feet as well. "I let you down, LB! I'm just the sidekick, I'm just the comic relief who takes all the hits and has the villain dad and lets face it, how many other heroes have you brought into the fight because I'm just not good enough! He couldn't even love me, no wonder you didn't either." With this, his body lost all the anger and tension it was holding. "I never stood a chance before, and now you know who I am, it's hopeless."

Marinette gasped. She had never seen him like this, so raw and open. She wanted to fix this, but where to even start.

"Spots off."

She expected his eyes to shoot up, craving the knowledge of who she was, but he had gone back to staring at the ground.

"Adrien?"

"Your identity won't change things LB."

"Kitty, look at me."

"Why?"

She took a deep breath. "Because, ever since you gave me your umbrella on the first day we met, I've been in love with you. I've been infatuated by you every day since and how you haven't realised is beyond me. You are the one person that keeps me going, that makes me believe that I can be a hero and not mess everything up."

She watched his brow furrow as he tried to work out what her words meant, and this his eyes widened as he looked up at her.

"Marinette?"

"Hi Kitty"

He just stared at her, lost for words. She used his shock to slowly take his hand and slide his ring back onto his finger where it belonged.

"Listen, I can't begin to imagine what you are going through, but Chat- Adrien, I need you okay. I can't save Paris without you. Please, don't leave me."

He blinked, a slow kitten blink as he took in everything in front of him. Slowly, he balled his fist around his ring and nodded. "I'm sorry bugaboo."

Marinette sighed in relief. Her kitty had came back to her.

"How about we go back home, you can have a nice warm shower and some hot cocoa and we can talk, yeah?"

"I don't have a home anymore Mari"

Marinette pointed, where you could just see the Dupain-Cheng bakery sign glowing in the moonlight. "You do now."


End file.
